Slightly Off Center
Number Please!
There's dial a prayer
dial a joke,
dial a horoscope.
Dial if you need to take a drink
dial if you've done too much dope,
We've got more numbers
than neighborly neighbors
and friendly friends.
Have no fear Ma Bell multiplies by ten,
so the numbers will never end.
there's numbers for runaways
and a number for rape,
But when you call the police
you get a tape.
You can find a telephone booth
among the desert sands,
in the city ghettos
and in our nation's capital
inside the monuments next to
where the statues stand.
There are more telephones around the globe,
if we all picked up at once
we would be put on hold.
It's sad to think that Mr. Bell
really didn't understand that his invention
would get so impersonal and
completely out of hand.
it's a faceless voice that answers,
"no, it's over,"
"don't call again".
It's a faceless voice that says,
"sorry, we can't help you",
"There's no one here by that name",
"She just walked out the door",
"he's sleeping now",
or
""Could you call back Tuesday?"
"He's in a meeting",
"She doesn't want to talk to you",
"Don't call gain!"
"Excuse me, that will be seventy-five more cents
or this conversation will end...
...BZZZZZZZZZZZ"
©©©©
©Philip J. Rappa 1982
copyright slightlyoffcenter.org